Marin Beaches Get Top Marks For Water Quality

SAN RAFAEL, CA — The weather is heating up, and there's some good news for those planning to hit the beaches of Marin County: An annual report found summer water quality to be excellent at all 26 beach sites.

Things were a bit less rosy on the Peninsula, where five beaches landed on Heal the Bay's "Beach Bummer" list, but San Mateo County was also home to one of two California beaches to make the "Honor Roll."

Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay has analyzed water quality beaches at hundreds of beaches in California and across the West Coast since 1991, assigning letter grades based on factors like the level of fecal bacterial pollution.

For the fifth straight year, Marin County beaches earned straight A's on summer days. During wet weather events, when pollution tends to be higher, 15 sites received A's or B's, and only five had C, D or F grades. The five-year average during wet weather was 77 percent.

"Heal the Bay reports Marin received 37 inches of rain between April 1, 2022, and March 30, 2023, a 93% increase from the historical average of 19 inches," officials wrote Wednesday. "Rain alleviates drought conditions but it also results in more pollutants, including bacteria, being flushed into streams, the bay, and the ocean. Pushed by rainwater, contaminants flow from streets in the form of trash, fertilizer, pet waste, metals, and automotive fluids."

Officials noted Marin County also navigated sewage spills over the same period, leading to 35,000 gallons of wastewater reaching a body of water. Two spills led to more than 8,000 gallons flowing into the Corte Madera Marsh Ecological Reserve. The county said swift actions were taken to mitigate environmental impacts and did not affect recreational beaches.

Environmental Health Services also monitors ocean, bay, and freshwater sites and posts results from the Public Health Lab weekly.

>> Check out the full beach report cards for 2022-23 via Heal the Bay.